Getting WiFi in France

With the internet now such an integral part of our daily lives, connecting easily to it has become a necessity. As you travel through France, here are numerous free or good-value options to enhance your holiday.

WiFi at airports

As soon as you arrive at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle or Orly airports, free unlimited WiFi access is available through your smartphone. No need to download any special software to get connected – simply complete a short form. Free unlimited Wifi is also available at Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Nice airports, in some cases in renewable 30-minute time slots. Wherever you are, the 256-Kbps connection speed will enable you to browse the web and send and receive emails.

WiFi in Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice

The French capital is doing everything it can to make your online life easier as you tour its main sights. Whether you’re in a museum, a park or a library, take advantage of 400 WiFi hotspots found in 260 locations around Paris which will enhance your experience of the City of Light. A free WiFi system is also in place in Bordeaux, Marseille and Nice.

HIPPOCKET WIFI, a paid Wifi service

Lyon and many other French towns and cities (Bordeaux, Montpellier, Sainte-Maxime, Arles, Hyères, La Baule and Mende, plus the ski resorts of Tignes, Les 2 Alpes, Morzine, Les Ménuires, St-Martin-de-Belleville, Avoriaz, Les Contamines, Auris-en-Oisans and Pralognan) offer a fee-paying service called HIPPOCKETWIFI. Simply hire a small device from the tourist office, slip it into your pocket and get a fast 4G internet connection around town – even while you’re on a boat on the Rhône or Saône rivers in Lyon. You can connect up to 10 devices simultaneously.

Tailor-made WiFi solutions: Travel WiFi and My Webspot

If all you need is an internet connection without specific city services, Travel WiFi and My Webspot can rent you a mobile hotspot (also known as a ‘MiFi’), accessed through a pocket-sized mobile WiFi router. Order one in just a couple of clicks before you leave home – it will be delivered directly to your hotel or rented accommodation. You’ll be connected from wherever you are in France with no roaming charges, and can support up to 10 devices simultaneously. Return the router in the pre-paid envelope provided.

French SIM cards

If you also need to make and receive calls, simply purchase a French SIM card or a pre-paid card for calls and WiFi combined.

No more roaming charges for UK travellers to France!

Great news for your holidays in France this year: mobile phone roaming charges have been scrapped within the EU, meaning you pay the usual home prices for calls to UK numbers and internet browsing while abroad. The agreement was reached in June 2017 between the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission.